Sleep, Baby, Sleep
by alena-chan
Summary: Raven... Richard... a baby... and a lot of crying... [RaeRob future fic] Dedicated to Tecna.


_**A/N: **Yup, it's me again and yes, it's another one of my 'cheesy and clichéd' stories and this story is entirely dedicated to one of my first and dearest friends here on ff (dot) net… **Tecna**._

_It's her Birthday today…_

_:throws confetti: _

_So, I wish you a Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday and that all of your wishes will come true and I hope that you will get many, many presents and lots of cakes… (:grins:)_

_I hope that you'll like this story… it's nothing big and probably OOC, but yeah… nonetheless, I hope you will enjoy it…_

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_Thanks, kudos and much love to my two wonderful and talented beta-readers **ChaiChi **and **Cherry Jade**._

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_**Disclaimer: Nope, not mine!**_

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_**Sleep, Baby, Sleep**_

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Raven awoke to the sound of the wailing of her baby.

Richard, or Nightwing, despite his sensitive hearing concerning villains, seemed to not hear a sound of their baby and never even moved.

Tired, Raven proceeded down the hall to feed Hope, who was only three months old, but had a set of lungs that could rival with Starfire's.

The purple-haired woman was nursing Hope, just like she had read in all those baby books, but as much as she loved the time with her daughter, it was exhausting. Having to get up every two hours was no picnic, and Richard couldn't be any help so she usually just let him sleep. Sometimes he would wake up and come down to the nursery to keep her company, but he was a man, and most men slept like logs… even men who fought crime in the darkness.

After Hope was finished eating, she began to cry again. Raven tried everything she knew to soothe her, but Hope had never cried very much, so all of this was new.

She sang, she walked her around, she bounced her gently, and an hour later none of it had helped. Something was irritating Hope, and not knowing what it irritated Raven, who was already exhausted beyond anything she ever thought she could feel.

"Come on, Hope," Raven cooed. "Mommy's tired, and I know you're tired, so how about we both get some more sleep?" she suggested in vain, rubbing her child's back.

When Hope continued to cry, Raven got increasingly frustrated. "Shh, shh, sweetie. I wish you could tell me what's the matter."

She had checked her diaper, which was fine, she had checked everything she knew, and nothing would calm the screaming child. Raven started to think it was her fault, and before long, she started to cry along with Hope.

That was the scene Richard found at one-fifteen in the morning, when he woke up and noticed that Raven's side of the bed was cold. He didn't think he had ever seen a more pitiful sight in his life. He had never seen Raven cry so much and so hard.

"Rae, what's the matter?" he asked, frowning.

"I don't know, Richard," Raven sniffled. "She won't stop crying, and I'm really tired and I just lost it with her. I should be able to know what's bothering her. I'm an empath and she is my daughter," she said, dissolving into tears again.

Richard walked to Raven's side wrapping his arm around his wife's shoulders. "It's okay, do you want me to take her?"

Raven nodded and handed the baby over gratefully. She sat in the rocker and watched Richard try to settle their daughter down.

It took him only a few minutes and Hope was sleeping peacefully in her crib.

Richard brought Raven out of the nursery and quietly closed the door. No sooner had they made their way back to their bedroom than Raven began to cry again.

The ebony-haired young man held her as she sobbed, though he didn't understand what was going on, but that was nothing new, because since they had married Richard never knew what was going on with Raven.

Maybe it was hormones…? Then again, he hoped that wasn't the case, he just couldn't deal well with hormones. A painful lesson he had learned during her pregnancy.

Finally he lifted her up and carried her to the bed, where he sat down and settled her in his lap.

"Rae, what's wrong?" he asked, his voice soft and filled with concern.

She tried to get a hold of herself enough to answer, but the tears didn't want to stop coming. "I -" she sniffled. "I'm a terrible mother," she sobbed into his shoulder.

He sighed. "Baby, where did you ever get that idea?" he asked patiently.

She continued crying.

"Raven, look at me," he said, shifting her so she had to face him. "Hope was just fussy. She probably had a stomach ache or something. It's not uncommon, and it's not your fault."

"B-But you... calmed her down," she pointed out.

"It probably didn't have anything to do with me. She wore herself out. Is that what this is really about?"

"I don't know," Raven said, slightly calmer now. She reached for a tissue on the nightstand and wiped her eyes. "I've never been so tired. I didn't know you could _be_ this tired. And it seems like I'm always taking care of her, feeding her, washing her things... And I think I'm a hormonal basket case."

Richard suppressed a laugh at the latter statement. "It's okay, Rae. You're not the first new mother to be overwhelmed and you won't be the last. I'm the one who is terrible, because I'm not around enough. I know I need to try to help more. I'm sorry," he said, kissing her temple.

She closed her eyes and leaned into him. "You have the company and people to save. You can't help that, Richard."

"But I have a family now. That should always come first, and I need to be better about that. Just don't doubt yourself, Rae. I've seen how you love Hope, you'd do anything for her."

"I would," she agreed. "I guess I'm just more scared than I thought I would be. My mother died when I was small and I don't really have any advice on how to do this. I never learned from example. What if I do something awful that affects Hope?" She was starting to cry again.

Richard looked her right in the eye. "Don't ever think that, Rae. You would never leave or do anything to hurt her, I know it. You can't let your past come into this. Sure, it'll always be with you, but it can't harm what you have with Hope. Do you understand me?"

She nodded, wiping her eyes again. "I'm sorry. I went into this thinking I'd know what to expect, and it's just something unexpected every time I turn around."

"That's what parenthood is," Dick smiled. "We're doing all right though. _You're_ doing all right. But you have to let me know when you need more help. I'm just a dumb guy; I don't pick up on that easily."

"Okay."

"And you're officially taking the day off. When Hope needs feeding, I'll bring her to you, but otherwise she's mine for the day and you're going to get some rest."

"Richard, I ca -" she started to protest.

"Yes, you can. You're no good to her if you run yourself into the ground. The only way I'm leaving this apartment today is if the city should happen to need saving. Hopefully you'll be able to forgive me for that."

"Of course," Raven rolled her eyes.

"Then it's settled. Now _you_ need to get settled." He stood up and deposited her onto her side of the bed.

He slipped in beside her and she snuggled next to him, grateful that she never had to face anything alone.

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_**A/N: **Yeah, that was it…_

_If there's enough response I could write follow-up (thanks to **ChaiChi** for that idea)._

_Okay, tell me what you think about the story and don't forget to wish **Tecna **a Happy Birthday!_

_Take care!_

_Alena_


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